Late holiday Monday afternoon, an area of energy spiralling over 26-degree water, halfway between Bermuda and the Bahamas, became the first named storma of the Atlantic hurricane season.
Andrea was labelled subtropical because it had a blend of both tropical and non-tropical characteristics. For a short time, Andrea appeared to be drifting towards the coast but our cold front came to the rescue; wind shear, which tears storms apart, stripped the developing storm of its energy and Andrea is no more.
Since the Atlantic hurricane season doesn’t officially begin until June 1, Andrea was a preseason storm. In case you're wondering how unusual that might be, Andrea is the fifth preseason storm in as many years.
Previous early birds included last year’s Alberto, Arlene in 2017, Bonnie in 2016, and Ana in 2015.
The trend over the past 50 years has been for the first named storm to form earlier and earlier. The average date for the first-named storm since 1969 is June 23, but an objective measure of the spread called the “standard deviation” is a whopping 33 days.
Although the Atlantic hurricane season officially begins June 1 and ends Nov. 30, storms have historically formed in every month of the year.
The 2019 Atlantic hurricane season is predicted to be average, leaning slightly towards below-normal activity.
Now, on to the names of these storms. Hurricane names are chosen from a list prepared by the World Meteorological Organization or WMO. There are only six lists of names for Atlantic Ocean storms with one list used each year.
So if your name is Andrea and you remember being a hurricane a while ago, you’re correct. Andrea was the first named storm of the 2013 season.
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Cindy Day is the chief meteorologist for SaltWire Network.
